Irfan Pathan cautions India for making Hardik Pandya their T20I captain

Hardik Pandya in action [Source: AP]

India were knocked out of the T20 World Cup, losing the semifinal clash to England by a comprehensive ten-wicket margin. After their horrendous defeat, Indian fans and experts called for an immediate amendment in the leadership, naming Hardik Pandya the ablest successor for Rohit Sharma as the T20I captain. 

However, former India cricketer Irfan Pathan believes that making Hardik the captain will be risky, as the ace all-rounder has injury issues. Therefore, Pathan thinks if India choose Hardik as the captain, they should simultaneously groom another individual for the role to replace the former if, in case, he gets injured on the eve of a major tournament. 

Here's what Pathan stated

"With Hardik Pandya, we all need to understand, that he's a fast-bowling all-rounder. He has injury issues as well. What if he is your captain who is getting injured right before the World cup? And if you don't have any other leader ready, you'll be in a mess,

"So, what I personally think is that Hardik Pandya is a leader, who has done very well in the Gujarat Titians, won IPL, won the championship trophy. You need to find not one, but two leaders going forward to build their mark. You know just like we talk about openers - we need to have a group of openers, we also need to have a group of leaders."

Meanwhile, Hardik is set to lead India in the three-match T20I series against New Zealand starting on November 18. 

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